There are very few movies that will get me into the theatre on opening weekend. Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was just the thing to pique my interest. I admit, when I first saw the trailer for it, I didn’t know what to think of it short of feeling uncomfortable. I got the idea that it was supposed to be a horror movie, but it didn’t have the same classic horror feel. The trailer was enough to get me in to see it.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams) are an interracial couple doing something that is difficult for most couples in any point of a relationship: meeting the parents. Chris has his reservations about meeting his White girlfriend’s family. With any interracial relationship, that is a prevalent worry, having to possibly stomach any racism coming from your lover’s family. However, Rose assures him that the most they’ll do is gush about how they wanted to vote for Obama a third time. (Sound familiar?) What starts off as just a nervous jaunt home slowly devolves into suspicion, paranoia, and fear.

The most I can give away review-wise would be the opening scene. A Black man is walking down what can be considered a suburban neighborhood in the dead of night. A car rolls up and seems to follow him. The man is unnerved and turns around. That part right there hits upon fears in the Black community because you don’t know if it’s someone coming up to ask for directions or something far worse. This movie hits upon the salient fears of Black people when they feel essentially out of their element and is cast in a way that even people outside of the community can feel the general unease. There are other parts in the movie that honestly made me feel uncomfortable, and actually twitchy. Things in the film mirrored situations I have faced and to see it played out was strange, but also gratifying.

I am honestly not a huge horror movie buff so I was initially hesitant on checking this out, but it still can be panned as a horror movie, just more in the vein of psychological horror. Or to use Peele’s own phrasing “social horror.” To be quite honest, a whole class can be taught from this film alone. The pacing, subtle context clues, and deeper levels to the film would have anyone watching it multiple times to see if they missed anything.

I would honestly recommend this movie to anyone that is curious about this film (and somehow managed to avoid all the spoilers and in-depth think pieces about it).